Evaluating the Use of an Electronic Death Registration System for Mortality Surveillance During and After Hurricane Sandy: New York City, 2012

Abstract

The NYC Health Department successfully adapted its EDRS for near real-time disaster-related mortality surveillance. Retrospective assessment of deaths, advanced methods for case identification and analysis, standardized reports, and system enhancements will further improve surveillance. Local, state, and federal partners would benefit from partnering with vital records to develop EDRSs for surveillance and to promote ongoing evaluation.

Temporal and Spatial Patterns in Utilization of Mental Health Services During and After Hurricane Sandy: Emergency Department and Inpatient Hospitalizations in New York City

“…Disruptions lasted in some areas for months following the hurricane's initial impact. 1 In addition to the direct effects on morbidity and mortality from drowning, injury, and exposure during the hurricane, [1][2][3] secondary effects on health and access to care, such as unmet post-disaster mental health care were also pronounced, particularly within the most vulnerable communities. [4][5][6][7] The post-disaster impact from the hurricane on various measures of mental health and mental health care utilization were complex.…”

Evaluation of Real-Time Mortality Surveillance Based on Media Reports

“…NYC used its eDRS to track deaths in real time. NYC has a centralized medical examiner system and protocols for attributing hurricane as cause of death; hence, their public health officials were able to access preliminary death certificate data, flag disaster-related deaths, and search cause of death text fields for hurricane-related terms during the response 29 . However, because none of the states initially provided death records of Sandy-related deaths using those methods, we provided them with a list we had obtained from online media reports that contained the number of deaths, the decedent’s name(s), county, city and location of death, date of death or body recovery, age, sex, and possible cause and circumstance of death to facilitate the search for the records by using single or combined variables of the list provided.…”

“…Unlike NYC, many states, including Connecticut, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, do not have eDRS or do not have the ability to leverage eDRS for “near to real-time” disaster mortality surveillance 29 30 For states that cannot use eDRS for disaster mortality surveillance, death certification and registration can be time-intensive and delay public health emergency response 9…”

<p>Health care professionals&rsquo; knowledge and awareness of the ICD-10 coding system for assigning the cause of perinatal deaths in Jordanian hospitals</p>

“…Vital registration data systems are necessary for countries to identify and quantify health-related issues. These systems provide accurate, complete, and timely vital statistics that can be used to measure progress toward quality improvement and meeting public health goals 1,2. Perinatal and neonatal (PNN) mortality and its risk factors provided by such systems serve as particularly important socioeconomic and health indicators, thereby influencing policy development to prevent stillbirths and improve research on their interventions and high-risk factors 3–5.…”